So, what have you been listening to lately?

[westen44]

^^^
Noel Redding's band "Road" recorded their only album on one of Motown's subdivisions.  I think  it was called Natural Resources/Rare Earth.  I think it was a project doomed for failure.  Motown at that time was too busy with other things.  Noel said the Motown secretaries treated their agent like he was a bill collector.  He called the album their Motown stillborn album.  Noel was only able to get out of the contract with Motown by giving up his royalties.  But he said their real problem was the same as a lot of other bands: their vocals just weren't good enough.  His certainly weren't.  His voice sounded like a cross between Bob Dylan and a poor man's John Lennon.  Rod Richards the guitarist/vocalist was better.  But Noel didn't think either one of them was up to par.  For a while, Richards kept saying they were going to be rock stars.  Noel said they weren't--that their own record company wouldn't even put them on tour.  BTW, the album was recorded in four days with everyone on cocaine. 

[ilan]

I really have no idea how I managed to grow up knowing every note Gong ever played, and yet the genius of Soft Machine never dawned on me until not long ago, 40 years too late. But I'm so glad that it finally did. Now I'm immersed in Soft Machine.

[westen44]

^^^
Soft Machine and Jimi Hendrix had the same management and toured together in 1968.  I've read nothing but positive reviews for Soft Machine.  Somewhere there is a demo of Hendrix playing bass on a Robert Wyatt song.

[patman]

I have the third through maybe 6 or 7 Soft Machine Albums...

Used to have 1 and 2, also...always interesting musically...

[Dave W]

^^^
Noel Redding's band "Road" recorded their only album on one of Motown's subdivisions.  I think  it was called Natural Resources/Rare Earth.  I think it was a project doomed for failure.  Motown at that time was too busy with other things.  Noel said the Motown secretaries treated their agent like he was a bill collector.  He called the album their Motown stillborn album.  Noel was only able to get out of the contract with Motown by giving up his royalties.  But he said their real problem was the same as a lot of other bands: their vocals just weren't good enough.  His certainly weren't.  His voice sounded like a cross between Bob Dylan and a poor man's John Lennon.  Rod Richards the guitarist/vocalist was better.  But Noel didn't think either one of them was up to par.  For a while, Richards kept saying they were going to be rock stars.  Noel said they weren't--that their own record company wouldn't even put them on tour.  BTW, the album was recorded in four days with everyone on cocaine. 

It was on the Rare Earth label. Indiana Wants Me was also on Rare Earth, one of the early singles. And of course the band Rare Earth.

[Dave W]

[westen44]

It was on the Rare Earth label. Indiana Wants Me was also on Rare Earth, one of the early singles. And of course the band Rare Earth.

I tried looking up all this one time.  It was years ago.  Now I can't find all the sources I looked at.  Noel's book has some info, but not all of it.  Rod Richards himself had been in Rare Earth the band.  He had artistic differences and left in 1971.  Maybe he was really wanting to play hard rock like what's on the Road album.  As for that Natural Resources name, I think I saw that somewhere.  It was supposedly another division of Rare Earth (the label) but I really don't know.  That's not really clear to me. 

I remember it was kind of hard to find all this info.  I have no idea where it is now.  But I do remember Rod Richards moved to Panama years ago and has made a life for himself there.  As far as I know, still playing music. 

After Road, Noel and the drummer Les Sampson had a band in Ireland for a while.  Eric Bell was the guitarist.  Bell thought they were going to be playing the same kind of music as Road had played.  But it turned out to be something completely different.  Their singer Dave Clark (not THE Dave Clark) did well, but to me his voice just didn't quite fit the genre.  If that's Noel Redding actually playing on that final album which was never officially released, his bass playing had become quite different.  I just have some doubts it's really him, but on the other hand, it could have been.  The album was the third one and was called "The Missing Album."  It finally became available 20 years after the band broke up. 

I listened to part of that Missing album again.  I think I understand why it wasn't released.  That Road album was better. 

[ilan]

Somewhere there is a demo of Hendrix playing bass on a Robert Wyatt song.

That's a flipped righty-strung bass, and this was Jimi's first and only take after listening to the song a couple of times.

[westen44]

That's a flipped righty-strung bass, and this was Jimi's first and only take after listening to the song a couple of times.

I bet there are even some die-hard Hendrix fans who don't know about that.  I've met some, though, who seem to know everything. 

[Dave W]

I tried looking up all this one time.  It was years ago.  Now I can't find all the sources I looked at.  Noel's book has some info, but not all of it.  Rod Richards himself had been in Rare Earth the band.  He had artistic differences and left in 1971.  Maybe he was really wanting to play hard rock like what's on the Road album.  As for that Natural Resources name, I think I saw that somewhere.  It was supposedly another division of Rare Earth (the label) but I really don't know.  That's not really clear to me. 

I remember it was kind of hard to find all this info.  I have no idea where it is now.  But I do remember Rod Richards moved to Panama years ago and has made a life for himself there.  As far as I know, still playing music. 

After Road, Noel and the drummer Les Sampson had a band in Ireland for a while.  Eric Bell was the guitarist.  Bell thought they were going to be playing the same kind of music as Road had played.  But it turned out to be something completely different.  Their singer Dave Clark (not THE Dave Clark) did well, but to me his voice just didn't quite fit the genre.  If that's Noel Redding actually playing on that final album which was never officially released, his bass playing had become quite different.  I just have some doubts it's really him, but on the other hand, it could have been.  The album was the third one and was called "The Missing Album."  It finally became available 20 years after the band broke up. 

I listened to part of that Missing album again.  I think I understand why it wasn't released.  That Road album was better.

Turns out it was issued under severl labels, depending on where it was released

It's about halfway down this page https://www.discogs.com/label/35793-Rare-Earth?page=1 . A couple of clicks leads to this https://www.discogs.com/Road-Road/master/333637

[westen44]

Turns out it was issued under severl labels, depending on where it was released

It's about halfway down this page https://www.discogs.com/label/35793-Rare-Earth?page=1 . A couple of clicks leads to this https://www.discogs.com/Road-Road/master/333637

That makes total sense.  Nowadays I think most of the people interested in this are people simply looking for obscure examples of early 70s hard rock. 

[ilan]

I bet there are even some die-hard Hendrix fans who don't know about that.  I've met some, though, who seem to know everything.

Thanks... Source: Electric Gypsy by Harry Shapiro and Caesar Glebbeek, 1992 edition, discography appendix.

Robert Wyatt: 'It's a kind of Mose Allison kind of thing, Jimi came in and listened and whispered, "I could try the bass line on that, you wouldn't have to use it". And he got Noel's bass, and you have to remember he's left handed, so he's playing bass the wrong way around. Puts down the first take, a f***ing Larry Graham bass line. Heard it once, including the changes, the breaks and all that, and it was staggering.'

I'm attaching a pic of Jimi from another session (Noel on guitar) with a flipped-over righty-strung P bass.

[westen44]

That's all very cool.  That "Electric Gypsy" book is considered by many to be the definitive work on Hendrix.  I have a copy, but it has been years since I read it.  BTW, for a while when they were still on good terms Jimi and Noel would drop in and sit in with bands.  Just do it on the spot.  Jimi found it relaxing.  Noel would play guitar and Jimi would play bass. 

[Rob]

^^^
Soft Machine and Jimi Hendrix had the same management and toured together in 1968.  I've read nothing but positive reviews for Soft Machine.  Somewhere there is a demo of Hendrix playing bass on a Robert Wyatt song.

I saw that tour in Chicago at the civic opera house.   I was at the first of 2 shows that day and honestly nothing positive about either act.

[westen44]

I saw that tour in Chicago at the civic opera house.   I was at the first of 2 shows that day and honestly nothing positive about either act.

Hendrix always had plenty of critics even from the beginning.  There is also the fact that he didn't like going on long tours.  No doubt many of his live performances were less than stellar.  One thing I never want to do anymore, though, is to get into "discussions" over which phases of his career were the best.  I've been around people who demand that your views on that be just the same as theirs or you're an enemy.  I'm not exaggerating.  It's why I had to leave a Hendrix-focused forum long ago.  Too many fireworks.  I was only interested in music, not wanting to get into totally unnecessary arguments that could never be proven one way or another anyway.